By Dave Litterer of The US Soccer History Archives, with supplemental materials by Steve Holroyd

A greatly weakened MISL started the season with a mere seven teams, one of them a new version of the Tacoma Stars. The salary war with the AISA continued taking its toll, and finances would remain precarious for the rest of the league's existence. Nevertheless, the MISL forged ahead. Steve Zungul made his debut in a San Diego uniform. The MISL arranged a tour by Locomotiv Moscow, which was highly successful. In another positive move, Dallas's Doc Lawson, and Los Angeles's Jim Gabarra and A. J. Lachowecki were named to the US Five-a-Side Team in December. In a major rule change, the red lines were moved back 20 feet to widen the neutral zone to 100 feet.

The regular season saw continuing strong performances by some perennial contenders, and one major comeback. Baltimore proved to be the big success story of the season, winning the regular season title, with San Diego coming in a close second. Parity was the word of the day -- all seven teams finished within seven games of each other for the season. Offensive and defensive performances were even closer; close scores and tiebreakers were the order of the day. In the playoffs, there were no upsets, as San Diego and Baltimore cruised to the finals in a series that started tight, become ever more freewheeling, finally ending in a 6-5 7th game, with San Diego prevailing with another league championship under its belt.

After the season, the league awarded new franchises to St. Louis and Cleveland, bringing two indoor hotbeds back into the league. Bill Kenting stepped down as Commissioner, leading to the return of league founder Earl Foreman. Foreman immediately began making moves to position the MISL as the possible Division 1 league required as part of the World Cup 1994 agreement. The ground was set for a major struggle between rival factions to win this coveted designation. Sadly, a long-time franchise, the Los Angeles Lazers folded, no longer able to sustain its heavy losses.

Wild Card Series
Wichita defeated Tacoma, 4-1, 7-4, 4-5, 6-2

Semifinals
San Diego defeated Dallas, 7-4, 4-5, 5-4 (OT), 3-7, 1-4, 7-2, 1-0
Baltimore defeated Wichita, 5-4 (OT), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 11-1

Championship
San Diego defeated Baltimore, 3- 4 (OT), 5-4 (OT), 5-2, 4-3, 3-6, 0-7, 6-5

A new team was added in Tacoma.

After the end of the season, Los Angeles folded.

All-Star Game:  All-Stars defeated Dallas Sidekicks 8-1.
(at Dallas.  Att:  10,435.  MVP:  Preki)

Leading Scorers                   GP   G   A   TP
Preki, Tacoma                     48  51  53  104
Chico Borja, Wichita              45  34  53   87
Dale Mitchell, Kansas City        47  46  36   82
Erik Rasmussen, Wichita           48  42  36   78
Hector Marinaro, Los Angeles      44  47  28   75
Gary Heale, Los Angeles           48  37  29   66
Tatu, Dallas                      43  35  29   64
Branko Segota, San Diego          31  29  34   63
Peter Ward, Tacoma                47  41  19   60
Carl Valentine, Baltimore         48  31  26   57
David Byrne, Baltimore            46  27  29   56
Jan Goossens, Kansas City         37  31  24   55
Godfrey Ingram, Tacoma            46  34  20   54
Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore        44  36  17   53
Michael Collins, Los Angeles      47  25  28   53
Zoran Karic, San Diego            38  37  16   53
Mark Karpun, Dallas               48  35  15   50

LEADING GOALKEEPERS   (Min. 1056 minutes to qualify)
                             GP    Min. Sho  Svs   GA   W-L   GAA
Victor Nogueira, San Diego   33  1996   826  400   95  19-13  2.86
P. J. Johns, Tacoma          31  1946  1035  471  114  18-13  3.51
Scott Manning, Baltimore     29  1596   712  345  102   17-9  3.83
Joe Papaleo, Dallas          24  1463   748  337   94  13-11  3.86
Cris Vaccaro, Wichita        40  2298   950  416  154  22-14  4.02
Krys Sobieski, Dallas        23  1416   575  231   98  11-12  4.16
Slobo Ilijevski, Baltimore   23  1232   565  260   89   12-9  4.34
Kris Peat, Los Angeles       24  1273   649  316   94   14-8  4.43
Mike Dowler, Tacoma          17  1068   440  158   82   5-12  4.60
 
Most Valuable Player:  Preki, Tacoma Stars
Coach of the Year:  Kenny Cooper, Baltimore Blast
MISL Scoring Champion:  Preki, Tacoma Stars
MISL Pass Master (most Assists):  Chico Borja, Wichita wings, Preki, Tacoma Stars
Defender of the Year:  Kevin Crow, San Diego Sockers
Goalkeeper of the Year:  Victor Nogueira, San Diego Sockers
Rookie of the Year:  Rusty Troy, Baltimore Blast
Newcomer of the Year:  Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore Blast
Championship Series Player of the Year:  Victor Nogueira, San Diego Sockers
Championship Series Unsung Hero:  Paul Dougherty, San Diego Sockers

All-MISL team:

G - Scott Manning, Baltimore Blast
D - Wes Mcleod, Dallas Sidekicks
D - Bruce Savage, Baltimore Blast
M - Preki, Tacoma Stars
F - Jan Goossens, Kansas City Comets
F - Tatu, Dallas Sidekicks

Tour by Locomotiv Moscow, January 30, 1989 - February 13, 1989  
Results:  0 wins, 6 losses.

1/30/89   Locomotiv Moscow 4, Baltimore Blast 8
2/1/89    Locomotiv Moscow 3, Wichita Wings 4
2/2/89    Locomotiv Moscow 3, Tacoma Stars 7
2/6/89    Locomotiv Moscow 5, Kansas City Comets 10  (at Cincinnati)
2/8/89    Locomotiv Moscow 1, Kansas City Comets 7
2/13/89   Locomotiv Moscow 2, Dallas Sidekicks 6